Funding the future: District hopes to make elementary schools modern, safeBy Brooke Chambers Reporter When bad weather comes, many elementary students in the Russellville School District huddle in the restrooms because there's nowhere else to go for protection. Before PE class can start after lunch, they have to wait for the cafeteria floor to dry after being mopped. Several classes have been moved into portable buildings, separate from the restrooms and other programs. These are a few of the major problems the scho...

Schools prepare to report Benchmark exam scoresEditor's Note: The Arkansas Department of Education released 2007 Benchmark scores on its Web site at ArkansasEd.org in July. The Courier complied Pope County's scores to form the related graphs. By Brooke Chambers Reporter As a new school year begins Monday, local school district administrators and teachers are making plans to improve their students' scores on the Benchmark Exam, the state's criterion-referenced test on curriculum frameworks....

Freshmen to arrive on ATU campus Saturday$2 million bond issue for Campus Courts approved By Brooke Chambers Reporter The parking lots and residence halls of Arkansas Tech University will be filled once again Saturday as freshmen students unload clothes and cardboard boxes from their parents' vehicles and learn their way around campus. Gary Biller, Ph.D., vice president for student services, updated Tech's Board of Trustees members Thursday on the status of the university's residence...

Atkins touts Benchmark exam scoresEditor's note: For more information on how Pope County students did on the 2006-2007 Benchmark exams, check Friday's edition of The Courier. By Brooke Chambers Reporter ATKINS - Students in the Atkins School District fared better than ever on state-mandated Benchmark exams administered last spring, according to Curriculum Coordinator Gladys Vint. Benchmark exam results were released in July, and Vint presented Atkins' scores during the monthly...

Junior Auxiliary stuffs backpacks for studentsMore than 10 years stuffing and still going By Laura Eppes Reporter About 35 women and children as young as 3 gathered Tuesday at Oakland Heights Elementary School to fill backpacks for children in need in the Russellville School District. Mountains of boxes nearly blocked the door to the cafeteria where 10 tables were set up to form an assembly line of school supplies. Piles of supplies - erasers and rulers, notebooks and pencils, crayons and...

Funding the futureScience wing to bring RHS up to date By Brooke Chambers Reporter AP Science Teacher Jason Walker has big plans for his students at Russellville High School. The excitement in his voice is evident as he speaks of DNA replication, national science fairs and lab activities that could potentially spark a career interest in the young minds that fill his classroom. While reminding himself of the tight quarters and outdated lab facilities at RHS, Wal...

ATU receives $1 million Upward Bound grantFor The Courier Arkansas Tech University has received a four-year grant totaling $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education to fund its Upward Bound program. Upward Bound allows universities and colleges to better serve low-income and first-generation students by preparing them for admission and success in postsecondary education. The grant will be awarded in segments of $250,000 for each of the next four years. Arkansas Tech has had an ...

Dardanelle schedules special election for Oct. 9City to continue 1-cent sales tax to expand water treatment plant, construct new well By Laura Eppes Reporter Dardanelle has big plans to construct a big well. The City Council passed ordinances Monday night to hold a special election Oct. 9 to continue the current 1-percent sales tax that would fund construction bonds to expand the water treatment plant and construct a collector well. Water Department Superintendent Bill Smith said the projec...

Pope Co. expects four contested school board racesDeadline to file is Thursday for Yell County By Brooke Chambers Reporter Pope County will have four contested races in its Sept. 18 school elections, according to filings in the county clerk's office at the close of business Monday. Monday was the deadline in Pope County to file for one of the six open school board positions. Two positions on the Russellville School Board are up for election, with Morgan Barrett running against incumbent James...

Project leaders prepare for new school yearGrant funds programs to reduce alcohol abuse among Russellville students By Brooke Chambers Reporter Project leaders are gearing up for the third and final year of projects under the Grant to Reduce Alcohol Abuse in the Russellville School District. Through a range of programs such as parenting classes, the parent pledge project and teen surveys to gauge alcohol exposure, grant project leaders say they are continuing to see benefits. The GRAA ...

Deadline approaches for school board candidatesFormer Public Works director running against James H. Taylor for Russellville School Board seat By Brooke Chambers Reporter With six positions open on Pope County school boards, and only four more working days until the Aug. 6 candidate filing deadline, four positions remain unopposed for the Sept. 18 school elections. Two Russellville School Board members' terms end this year, James H. Taylor and Virginia Berner. They are both seeking re-elec...

Clarksville schools set sights on communicationSchool board self-evaluation prompts change By Brooke Chambers Reporter CLARKSVILLE - Eight months ago, the Clarksville School Board was without a mission statement, lacked an organized district vision and had little communication with the public. Upon realizing their deficiencies, school board members got to work. Several meetings and many discussions later, a mission statement has been written, a vision has been discovered and the board is s...

Students can register for music classesThe Arkansas Center for Music Education (ACME) is currently registering students for music classes for the 2007-08 school year. These classes include elementary and general music for home school students, private school students and others in the River Valley area. Elementary and general music classes are for home school students in K4 through 12th grade. They include elementary music, general music and others depending on enrollment. These cl...

Architect: 'Dress them up'Planning moves forward on elementary school renovations, fine arts construction Editor's note: More information on proposed construction and renovation projects within the Russellville School District as they relate to a proposed 6.9-mill tax increase will be presented in The Courier in the coming weeks. School elections are Sept. 18. By Brooke Chambers Reporter The room was filled with "oohs" and "ahhs" Thursday night at the Russellville Scho...

Hector board halts lease agreementCompany wants to conduct seismic testing By Brooke Chambers Reporter HECTOR - The Hector School Board took no action Wednesday night on a proposal from a geophysical operations company who requested lease rights for the district's land. Reached by The Courier after the meeting, Board President Terry Epperson said Superintendent Karen Smith presented a permit from Kingfisher Exploration Services Inc., which requested a lease agreement with the ...

Stuff the Bus time SaturdayTHE COURIER / Brooke Chambers Before the local school buses are filled with children anxiously awaiting - or in some cases dreading - the first day of school, the River Valley United Way is asking the community to help fill the buses with the school supplies those students will need to start the school year off right. The third annual "Stuff the Bus" event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Wal-Mart Supercenters in Russellville...

Man behind the moneyNathan Barber more than number cruncher for RSD By Brooke Chambers Reporter Although Nathan Barber just completed his third year with the Russellville School District, he is no stranger to the public school system. A second-generation educator, Barber began his career in West Memphis as a math and shop teacher at age 21. "My dad was a superintendent for 33 years, and I listened to him a lot," he said. "He encouraged me to go into education." N...

RSD substitute teacher workshops this weekWorkshops for new, returning subs scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday For The Courier The annual Substitute Teacher Sign-up Workshops for the Russellville School District have been scheduled, according to Dr. Annette Henderson, assistant superintendent for personnel. Two workshops have been announced: one for returning subs and one for new subs. The workshop for returning substitutes will be held from 9-11:30 a.m. Tuesday in Room 832 at Russellvil...

Faculty to represent Tech at int'l conference in ChinaFor The Courier Mary Ann Rollans, Ph.D., and Judge William R. "Bud" Harper of Fort Smith will represent Arkansas Tech University and present a paper at the 2007 China-U.S. Conference on Disaster Management in Beijing, China, from Aug. 7-9. Rollans is dean of the Tech School of Community Education and Professional Development. Harper is vice chairman of the Arkansas Tech Board of Trustees, former director of the Arkansas Department of Emergency...

Hector, Dover to share alternative learning programSuperintendent arranges for Hector students to attend Dover schools for remedial classes By Brooke Chambers Reporter HECTOR - Because of the state requirement for all public schools to offer an Alternative Learning Environment (ALE) program, Superintendent Karen Smith told the Hector School Board how the district plans to offer ALE to its students without stretching the budget. ALE is a student intervention program in compliance with state law...